Stringed musical instrument



G CLOETENS.

STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7. mm.

1,392,245.- PatentedSept. 27,1921.

LLII

Y Y filler/1915 G. CLOETENS.

STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.- APPLICATION FILED mm. 1, 1921.

Pafented Sept. 27,1921.

2 suisIs-sn'tir 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LALOUX, OF LIEGE, BELGIUM, AND ONE-THIRD TO-LOUIS VAN DER ,HAUZEUR, 0F BRUSSELS, BELGIUM. v

HEYDEN a smamonn MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. V

Specification of Letters rateats Patented Sept. 27, 1921.

Original application filed January 19, 1920, Serial No. 352,345. Divided and this application filed March 7, 19 21. Serial No. 450,496.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, GEORGES CLoE'rENs, manufacturer of organs at Brussels, Belium, 37 Rue .de Lauzanne, a subject of the ing of Belgium, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stringed Musical Instruments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as wlll enable others skilled in the art to whlch 1t appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked therein, which form a part of this specification. I

This invention relates to stringed muslcal instruments played by key-board, such as pianos, harpsichords, etc, orby thefingers, like the harp, bein a division of an apphcation, entitled tringed musical instruments, filed January 19, 1920, Serial No. 352,345.

The object of the invention is to provlde means for modifying the sounds produced by the strings to produce the effects; of strings which are plucked, i. 6., effects similar to pizzicato.

The above result is attained according to the present invention by providing presser means positioned to be brought to press firmly upon the strings near the ends thereof'to shorten the duration'of the sounds.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, some constructional forms of the invention,

Figure 1 is a partly diagrammatic view of the general arrangement of the strlngs of a piano and of a portion of the apparatus constituting the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of Fig. 1 at right angles to the strings;

Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional views on the lines 3-3 and 44 of Fig. 2, respectively; and

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are fragmentary sectional views similar to Fig. 3, and illustrating three other constructional forms.

The strings 3 are stretched in the usual way over the plate 1, 2. They are operated in the usual way by hammers (not shown) acting at a certain distance from the front part 1 of the plate.

The apparatus constituting the present 111- vention comprises in all the various modifb cations illustrated, except that illustrated in Fig. 7, a supporting bar 4 positioned above the strings and extending transversely of the length thereof and near their ends, as shown in Fig. 1.

The construction illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 comprises a bar 5 supported beneath the bar 4 in spaced relation thereto by means of screws 6. For constructional reasons the bar 5 may be divided longitudinally into a number of sections. The bar 5 carries presser means for the strings of each note (each note may be produced b a triple string 3 as illustrated in Fig. 2 comprising a disk 8 covered with felt and secured to'the end of a screw-threaded rod 7 extending vertically through the bar 5 in screwthreaded engagement therewith. These screw-threaded rods permit of the exact adjustment of the position of the members'8 with respectto the strings.

Overlying the supporting bar 4 adjacent one end thereof is a wedge member 9 which coacts with an inclined face on thebar. The wedge member 9 is actuated through a rod 10 provided with. a handle member near the key-board. Actuation of the wedge member 9 by means of the rod 10 causes the supporting bar 4 to be depressed, thereby bringing the pressers 8 firmly into contact with the strings. Return of the supporting bar 4, and the parts carried thereby, to normal position is effected by the tension spring 11.

In the case where each note has three strings (as illustrated in Fig. 2), to cause each presser 8 to touch only two strings, or

only a single string, the support 4 must be moved longitudinally and this is effected by means of the wedge 12 (shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4) which engages the inclined end of the support and is actuated through the medium of a rod 13. The return of the support 4 to normal position is effected by spring 14 (shown in Fig. 2).

It will be understood that the end of the supporting bar 4 opposite that engaged by the wedges 9 and 12 will be supportedby suitable means permitting the movements of the support caused by the wedges.

In the constructional form shown in Fig. 5, bar 4 carries by means of screws 6 a bar 5' similar to the bar 5 of Figs. 2 and 3. Instead of the bar, however, carrying a separatepresser for the strings of each note, it carries along the whole of its length a projecting pad formed by a string 19 covered with felt 20. s

In the construction shown in Fig. 6, bar at carries a bar 5 similar to the bar 5 of Figs. 2 and 3. The bar 5" has along the whole of its length on its under side a groove 21 which is closed by a diaphragm 22 which may be kept inflated by air pressure or the like.

It is obvious that in the constructions shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the means for shifting bar 1 longitudinally will be omitted. It will be obvious, also, that with the construction shown in Fig. 6 the pizzicato effeet will not be as pronounced as with the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3, due to the resilient nature of the presser means.

In the construction shown in Fig. 7 the support for the pressers is in the form of abar 15 adapted to rock about on axis 16 under the action of an operating rod 18. This bar carries fingers 17 on the free ends of which are fixed the pressers 8 with their screw-threaded rods 7. This construction permits of the exact adjustment of the position of the pressers 8 in the direction of the length of the strings, by moving the fingers 17 relatively to the bar 15, the fixing of these fingers 17 by means of the screws 23 only taking place when the adjustment is finished.

In order to obtain the simultaneous production of several sounds, separate pressers for each string of the same note may also be employed in the construction shown in Fig. 7. Each presser 8 is then carried by a se arate finger 17 which is movable relatively to the bar 15, and one or more of these fingers may be raised by means of a suitable device for the purpose of preventing the corresponding presser from coming into contact with the string when the bar 15 is operated.

It is obvious that the support 4 or 15 might also be divided into separate sections operated separately.

Having now specifically described my invention in various of its embodiments, what I claim is:

1. A stringed musical instrument, comprising presser means located to be applied against the strings near the ends thereof, a support for said presser means extending transversely of the length of the said strings, and means for moving said support toward said strings.

2, A stringed musical instrument, comprising a plurality of pressers located to be applied against the strings near the ends thereof, a support common to said pressers, and means for moving said support toward said strings.

3. A stringed musical instrument, comprising a plurality of pressers located to be applied against the strings near the ends thereof, a support common to said pressers, means for moving said support toward said strings, and means for moving said support longitudinally in order that the pressers may be applied only against certain of the strings of each note when the support is moved toward said strings,

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGES CLOETENS. Witnesses GEORGES VANDER HAEYDEN, LOMERID LEVER. 

